Bronson allowed private parole challenge in court
CHARLES Bronson, one of the UK’s longest serving and most notorious prisoners, has been given the go-ahead to bring a High Court bid to have his latest parole hearing in public.
The 67-year-old – currently held in the high-security estate at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes – has been in prison for the vast majority of the last 45 years, with much of that time spent in solitary confinement or specialist units.
Bronson, from Aberystwyth, who changed his name in 2014 to Charles Salvador after the artist Salvador Dali, wants his upcoming parole review hearing to take place in public.
But Parole Board rules state oral hearings must take place in private – a “blanket ban” on public hearings which Bronson’s lawyers claim is unlawful.
Following a remote hearing yesterday, Mr Justice Swift gave Bronson permission to bring a legal challenge against the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) over the Parole Board rules.
The judge said Bronson – who did not appear at the remote hearing – had an “arguable case” which should be given a full hearing.
Bronson’s barrister Matthew Stanbury earlier told the judge his client’s case raised a point of “wider public importance” that could affect many other prisoners.
Mr Stanbury said the rule allowing “pre-approved” observers to attend parole hearings “is not a rule that was ever designed to allow access to the press or to the public”.
He said it could allow “prisoners’ family members or partners” to attend, or lawyers and probation officers to attend for “professional development”.
But he told Mr Justice Swift “you don’t turn a private hearing into a public hearing by admitting a limited category of persons... that remains a private hearing”.
Bronson has waived his right to privacy and wants his latest parole hearing “to take place in the full public glare in order that the principle of open justice can be observed”.
Mr Stanbury told the court a mental health tribunal considering the case of Moors murderer Ian Brady was heard in public in 2013 and provided a “clear illustration” of how a Parole Board hearing could also be conducted in public.
He added that Bronson’s upcoming parole hearing “has been put on ice” pending the resolution of his High Court claim.
The MoJ’s barrister Jason Pobjoy said both the MoJ and the Parole Board had taken “significant steps... to ensure that the principle of open justice is respected” in relation to parole hearings.
He said it is “open to him (Bronson) to ask any journalist to attend – they would certainly be able to apply under the rules”.
Mr Pobjoy referred to the case of black cab rapist John Worboys, whose release was controversially directed by the Parole Board before that decision was overturned by the High Court in March 2018.
He said: “Over the last few years, particularly after the Worboys case, (the MoJ and Parole Board) have been on a real drive and a real push for more transparency.”
Bronson was sentenced in 2000 to a discretionary life term with a minimum of four years for taking a prison teacher at HMP Hull hostage for 44 hours.
The Parole Board has reviewed his case six times since the end of that minimum term in 2003, most recently refusing to direct his release following a hearing in November 2017.
In July 2019, it directed an oral hearing in Bronson’s case, which is the subject of his High Court claim.